"..and He is Kissed on Both Cheeks"

Radio Record, Volume VII, Issue 10, 15 September 1933, Page 13

"..and He is Kissed on Both Cheeks"

Embarrassing Situation for a Race-Driver-Famous Open Boat Voyages The Modern Theatre a World Theatre-Rhodesia, Land of Romance . -Art of Public Speaking,

MR. W. J. SCOTT (3YA). O design and build a team of special racing ears for one of the big European motor races costs anything from 20 to 50 thousand pounds, but, if successful, although they may. not win the race, the design is employed, complete or modified, in the firm’s new . models for the coming year. Firms generally enter teams of 8 or 4 cars, under the absolute control of a team manager. The whole team, with mechanics, etc., sets out for the scene of the race several days in advance. The drivers are given all the practice possible, and machines are tested in every way, but they are not driven any more than is necessary-most of the practise work being done on old machines. HE Le Mang 24-hour race is. the the most severe test in Burope. The course is a few miles outside the old French town of Le Mans, and is an 8-mile road circuit specially prepared. There are some very tricky corners, and at least one good "S" bend. The race begins on a Saturday at 4p.m. and goes on through the night till 4 o’clock on Sunday afternoon. The cars are standard productions, in full touring trim, and are run under very strict rules, each car haying to carry any spares that may be required, .'T the finish of the race the national anthem of the successful competi-

tor is played, the driver is © mobbed and carried to the . tribunal, where he is cOvered with flowers, kissed on both cheeks by many enthusiastic people; and generally made uncomfortable. This is a very trying time for most of our Wnglish drivers, who are not used to the French method of showing their warm appreciation. The excitement at the end of these big races is tremendous, and must be seen to be appreciated. N the 1927 race at Le Mans the Bentley (British) team met with a very severe accident. _ which nearly cost them the race. During the night the leading Bentley, on rounding what is known as "House Corner," crashed into another car which had got out of control. and a moment later the two following Bentleys piled up on the already disabled cars. In all six cars crashed on this corner before warning eould be given, and were totally disabled, with the exception of one of the Bentleys. -This car: was: dragged out of the wreck: age and patched up so that it could continue the race, and, though the driver had been hurled over a fence

into a field, he took the wheel again, and after a terrific contest not only made up the lost ground, but won the + race. HE leading driver for the Bentley team was the late Sir Henry Birkin, whose death was announced recently in the local papers. Unfortunately Sir Henry got blood poisoning from burns on the arms received while taking part in the Algiers G.P. and his loss will be a very serious blow to British racing prestige. He was easily the pick of our drivers and was the only one to hold his own with the continental aces, which he did on several occasions in no uncertain manner. In a black shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and long scarf streaming out pehind, Birkin could be recognised among a thousand, and there is no doubt he will be missed at Le Mans and other big international races this year, MR. C. S. PERRY (3YA)GOOD deal of courage is necessary pefore one willingly undertakes a voyage across the open. sea in an undecked vessel. It is well known that the early Greeks and Romans would never venture out of sight of land if they could help it. Yet the Norsemen, Erik the Red, Leit Ericsson, and many of their less well-known contemporaries were prepared to trust tlieir lives to their oars-and sails and make voyages,

of great difficulty and danger many years before the invention of the most primitive instruments of navigation. These expeditions were frequently undertaken with little suspicion of the destination, and often in ships. which were completely undecked. Jt is re corded by Hakluyt that one of the vessels with Columbus when he discovered America was without decks. Qik JOUN BARROW records the eseape of the Centaur’s boat with Captain Inglefield and eleyen othersa small undecked leaky craft, 5 feet broad, with one of the gunwales stove in, "nearly in the middle of the Western ocean, without compass, without quadrant, without sail, without great -oat or cloak, all very thinly clothed, in a gale of wind, with a great sea running and the winter fast approach-ing-the sun and stars by which alone they could shape their course sometimes hidden for twenty-four hours." heir provisions were a bag of bread. a small ham, a piece of pork, two quarts of water and a few bottles of French cordials. One biscuit. broken’ into twelve was served for breakfast, and the same for dinner. The allowance of water which was of course infinitesimal, was slightly juereased by rain On the fifteenth day the quartermaster died from hunger and cold, having been unable to.swallow his ration from lack of strength in his throat; and having

become delirious tnrousi drinking sea-water. On the sixteenth day land was sighted, nearly a thousand piles’ having been traversed under conditions of the utmost difficulty. "THE question of whether it is legal to take hnumin life in order to prevent starvation in the case of shipwreck has been solemnuly argued out in- the finglish court. Everyone remembers W. S. Gilbert’s Bab Ballad about , "the boatswain tight and the midshipmite and the crew of the captain’s gig," but it is a very different thing to be brought up against such a set of circumstances in dead earnest. That was the fortune of the master, mate and a seaman and a poy of the yacht Mignonette, cast away 1600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope, with no food except two pounds of turnips and no water at all. On the fourth day a turtle was killed. but until the twentieth day they had no other food. Then the master and .mate, against the wishes of the seaman, killed the boy, saying that they had wives and.families and that it was better that one should die than all. Four (Continued on page 45,)

Snippets From Outstanding Talks of the Week. —

(Continued from page 13.)

days after this the boat was picked up, and the men were taken to Falmouth and committed for trial at Exeter. Lord Coleridge, delivering the judgment of the Court, composed of the five senior judges of the Queen’s Bench Division,-was unwilling to admit a dangerous precedent, and found the men guilty of murder. The headnote of the case in the law report of the period is simply "The necessity of avoiding starvation does not excuse murder." MISS MARJORIE BASSETT (3YA). HE modern theatre is a world thea: tre, drama having become-large-ly through the influence of the cinema -international. In every capital city of the world plays are being exchanged and being prepared simultaneously in all languages. Perhaps the spirit of international drama will do more to cement world peace than all the conferences of statesmen. | Where statesmen confer together in the language of state, the modern theatre speaks in the language of the people, and speaks to the entire masses of the people; using in its mirror the people themselves. revealing them in the problems of their everyday life, in their sorrows and their joys as its illustrations--there all may come. each individual demanding satisfaction according to his need of the moment, To judge what this need may be, and to supply it, is the job of the showman and his players HE showman’s job is not an enviable one-he must be able to judge instinetively the public need of the momentwhether it be to laugh, to be childishly amused or discreetly shocked. Very seldom is it to he educated. as the showman with high ideals soon finds to his cost. AVE I painted rather a gloomy view of my profession? T don’t mean, to. for despite the undercurrent of tragedy in the life. stage people are wonderfully gay and lighthearted as children-generous and kindly to each other-though reckless almost to a fault, living for the day and what the day holds-and taking no very serious thought for the morrow. MR. G. C. KIRV (3YA). {t is not given to many men to escape becoming bores: when they rise to speak. If the gift of eloquence is not in a man he can do something, if only by memorising to enable him to utter a string of platitudes, but he will never be able to: grip his hearers and rouse them to enthusiasm. No amount of reading will make a man a golfer, and no amount of reading or advice will make a tongue-tied man a speaker to whom it is a delight to listen. THE following story is told of Canon Teienmouth Shore:.The canon had arranged to speak at a banquet. "For how long do you think I‘ ought to speak?" was a question he addresséd to the American Ambassador to Great Britain at the time. ‘Well." was the frank reply. "that depends on cireumstances; I should say that if you

haven’t struck oil at the end of two minutes you had better stop boring." OW often the speech of an afterdinner speaker is accompanied by a mysterious game of chess, performed with the cutlery, glass and other table furnishings. Such mannerisms ° distract the minds of the audience from the subject of the speech. oo MR. PATRICK BELL-SYER (3YA). O-DAY the corps of the British South Africa Police numbers close on two thousand men, and constitutes, in addition to its police activities, the first line of defence in Rhodesia. Recruits are mostly enrolled in England and are attested for a period of three years. [ HAVE travelled at night, often in a darkness that sometimes was so black it seemed tangible. It often reminded me of the Turkish proverb, which says: "A- black ant on a black rock in the black night--God: sees it." In the dome above smouldering star's gleamed like millions of diamonds: and

all around me brooded a silencé, save for. the, insect world or the beat of faraway tom-toms-a silence’ which, was like a living thing; ominous, immense. ND -night at a place called Chilimanve I was safely ensconced in/a ‘"scherm’" or. lion-proof -enclosure for. sleep when the smell of lion reached my nostrils, Fortunately the walls of.the "scherm" were fully 15 feet high, so that there was. small chance of the intruders leaping into the interior. Presently I heard the eerie cry of the jackal, followed by a short sharp growl from the king of beasts. Yet no other sound. was heard: lions move with catlike stealth, not even betraying’ their presence ‘by the snap of a broken twig. By way of a little diversion’ I fired my rifle through the "scherm". and for a time quiet reigned, ‘but- during. the whole night animals ‘of the wild prowled: round the enclosure hoping for an .opportunity to attack. When day broke: T examined the -ground.-round the "scherm." It was covered with lion spoor and I estimated that at least five of the brutes had worked up an appetite: the preceeding might. .